Chris Arreola vs. Tomasz Adamek pits Arreola's size and power against Adamek's guile and toughness. Photo / Jan Sanders-Goossen Tutor

ARREOLA

The essentials

Age: 29

Height / reach: 6-4 (193cm) / 77 (196cm)

Stance: Orthodox

Hometown: Riverside, Calif.

Nickname: The Nightmare

Turned pro: 2003

Record: 28-1 (25 knockouts)

Trainer: Henry Ramirez

Fight-by-fight: http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=212248&cat=boxer

The Ring rating: No. 6 heavyweight

Titles: None

Biggest victories: Chazz Witherspoon, June 21, 2008, DQ 3 (Witherspoon was undefeated); Travis Walker, Nov. 29, 2008, TKO 3; Jameel McCline, April 11, 2009, KO 4.

Loss: Vitali Klitschko, Sept. 26, 2009, TKO 10.

ADAMEK

The essentials

Age: 33

Height / reach: 6-1¾ (187cm) / 75 (191cm)

Stance: Orthodox

Hometown: Jersey City, N.J. (from Zywiec, Poland)

Nickname: Goral

Turned pro: 1999

Record: 40-1 (27 knockouts)

Trainer: Andrzej Gmitruk, Ronnie Shields and Roger Bloodworth

Fight-by-fight: Fight-by-fight: http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=14883&cat=boxer

The Ring rating: None

Titles: WBC light heavyweight (2005-2007; lost it to Chad Dawson); IBF cruiserweight (2008-09; vacated).

Biggest victories: Paul Briggs, May 21, 2005, MD 12 (won vacant title); O’Neil Bell, April 19, 2008, TKO 8 (won title); Steve Cunningham, Dec. 11, 2008, SD 12; Andrew Golota, Oct. 24, 2009, TKO 5.

Loss: Chad Dawson, Feb. 3, 2007, UD 12 (lost title).

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Skills: Adamek is a polished, complete fighter who has honed his skills against some of the best fighters in the world over the past decade-plus. He’s not exceptional in any single department but is very good in each. His skills combined with his uncommon toughness have combined to make him one of the most-accomplished fighters of his time. Arreola is known for his unbridled aggression but he has better skills than some people realize. He had more than 300 amateur fights at the lighter weights, giving him the opportunity to learn a great deal. He looked clueless against Vitali Klitschko. But doesn’t everyone look that way against the Klitschkos?
Edge: Adamek

Power: Arreola has a knockout ratio of 86 percent at heavyweight, Adamek 65.9 primarily at light heavyweight and cruiserweight. So there’s no question who has more pop. Arreola doesn’t paw at his opponents; when he punches, he means to hurt you. And he often does. He has been in only one fight that went the distance, a victory over Andrew Greeley in 2005. He also has won by DQ twice. Arreola can knock out anyone not named Klitschko. Adamek was never had one-punch knockout power but he had very heavy punches at light heavyweight and cruiserweight. And he showed against Andrew Golota, a faded, but big heavyweight, that he can hurt a very big man. He can knock out almost anyone if he puts his punches together.
Edge: Arreola

Speed and athletic ability: Adamek has evolved from a light heavyweight to a cruiserweight and now to a small heavyweight, the point being he has the body of a smaller man and the quickness that usually goes with it. Adamek isn’t exactly Floyd Mayweather Jr., though. He’s a good athlete with adequate quickness for a heavyweight. Arreola doesn’t move quite as well as Adamek but don’t sell him short. He moves well for such a big man (250¾ pounds at the weigh-in) in part because he was a light heavyweight as an amateur and has retained some of that muscle memory. Still, Adamek will definitely have an advantage in speed and athleticism.
Edge: Adamek

Defense:
Edge: Neither fighter is afraid to take a punch or two in order to deliver one but Arreola is the more reckless of the two, which opens him up for punishment. He probably could avoid more punches because of his skill set but chooses to fight very aggressively, which has produced good results for him. Adamek also isn’t terribly difficult to hit but he’s much more calculating than Arreola. He seemed to be unusually cautious against Jason Estrada, his most-recent opponent. Perhaps that will be his approach to this fight, too, meaning it could be difficult for Arreola to connect consistently.
Edge: Adamek

Experience: Adamek, 33, has fought some of the best fighters in the world in his 11-year, 41 fight career. He has fought seven times in major title fights in two weight divisions, losing only once (to Chad Dawson). He also had an extensive amateur career. Arreola also had a vast amateur career and has fought 29 times. His only title fight (his losing effort against Klitschko) was also his only truly big fight, though. His level of opposition overall is far inferior to that of Adamek. However, Arreola has fought his entire career at heavyweight while Adamek has fought only twice in the division, giving Arreola an edge in that department.
Edge: Adamek

Chin: Anyone who can take the beating from Vitali Klitschko that Arreola took and remain on his feet has a good chin. Arreola has been down, most recently against Travis Walker in 2008, but has never failed to get up. Adamek, as tough as any fighter pound for pound, also has been wobbled a few times but has never been stopped in his career. However, he has been taking punches from 175- and 200-pounders. Arreola weighed in at 250¾. And he’s no old-timer as Andrew Golota is. The Pole’s chin might be tested like never before on Saturday. We’re dying to see what happens when Arreola lands a real heavyweight punch. If Adamek can take it, then he has a good chance to win. If he can’t ÔǪ well, you know.
Edge: Arreola

Conditioning: Adamek is the type of boxer who can fight hard for 12 solid rounds, meaning he takes his conditioning very seriously. The only question mark in this regard is the fact he seemed to tire against Jason Estrada in his last fight, perhaps the result of his added weight. Arreola has looked more like a sumo wrestler than a boxer in many of his fights. He says he and strength and conditioning coach Darryl Hudson have begun to hit their stride, though. His weight for this fight is his lowest since he weighed 239 against Chazz Witherspoon in 2008 and a half pound less than he weighed against Klitschko. Maybe he is on the right track. The 250¾ might be a good weight for him. He got his butt kicked against Klitschko but fought hard for 10 rounds.
Edge: Adamek

Wear and tear: Arreola is the type of fighter — a reckless brawler — who is supposed to have a relatively short career. However, we haven’t seen any signs of decline yet. That might be because many of his of fights have ended early. He has fought only 95 rounds, or an average of only 3.3 per fight. Of course, that doesn’t take into account the work he does in training. Adamek has been in quite a few taxing fights for more than a decade and is approaching an age when many fighters begin to slip. He also probably is more demanding of himself during sparring than Arreola is. Again, however, we haven’t seen any signs of decline. Could the first signs emerge Saturday for either fighter?
Edge: Even

Corner: Adamek has had a lot of input for this fight. He brought in veteran trainers Ronnie Shields and Roger Bloodworth to join his Polish coach, Andrzej Gmitruk. That could work in his favor if Shields and Bloodworth simply helped with strategy and perhaps did some fine tuning. It could work against him if they tried to make significant changes at this point in his career. Henry Ramirez deserves a lot of credit for his work with Arreola, who was more or less a club fighter when they got together. He knows how to motivate Arreola as well as anyone, which is saying something in light of the fighter’s aversion to training. He doesn’t have the experience to compete with Adamek’s troika but Arreola might be better off with one cook in the kitchen.
Edge: Adamek

Outcome: Adamek will probably fight cautiously, testing his skill level against that of Arreola. And, being the quicker and more-skillful of the two, he most likely will befuddle the bigger man to some degree and win the early rounds. However, Arreola, whose skills and quickness will surprise Adamek, will gradually cut off the ring and find ways to connect. And he’ll hurt the Pole. Adamek will display his remarkable resilience by surviving Arreola’s best punches and will continue to fight back. Ultimately, though, the punches will begin to wear Adamek down and he’ll be unable to continue at some point in the later rounds.

Prediction: Late-round stoppage for Arreola